Saints Gab NFL Week Three Preview – Houston at New Orleans

All it took was a little home cooking for the Saints to get back on track after an opening night loss to the Packers in Green Bay.

Drew Brees threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears in a 30-13 win last Sunday. Those TD’s included a 79-yard scoring pass to Devery Henderson, who had three catches for 103 yards as top receiver Marques Colston continues to recover from a broken collarbone suffered in week one.

This week the task is tough as well, as the revamped on defense Houston Texans (2-0) bring their new look D to town for a matchup with the high powered Saints.

New defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and coach Gary Kubiak have the Texans undefeated, and for two weeks the Texans D has been able to do a nice job in holding down a Colts team without Peyton Manning and last week they held down the Dolphins in Miami. The Saints – that will be a little harder to do.

While the Saints put up 30 last week, and with Brees at the controls, it will take a big effort from Phillips’ D to keep the Saints from going up and down the field.

Houston is allowing league bests of 271.0 yards and 10.0 points per game – a vast improvement from the 442.0 yards and 25.5 points through two games last season. They would love to have those numbers against the Saints this week, and it will be up to Brees and co. to make sure they don’t.

The Saints rank fifth offensively, averaging 429.5 yards and 32.0 points. They have outscored their opponents 128-78 in winning four of their last five home games.

Brees has averaged 313.5 yards and thrown for 15 touchdowns while winning five of his last six at home against AFC opponents.

Brees threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears – including a 79-yard scoring pass to Devery Henderson, who had three catches for 103 yards as top receiver Marques Colston continues to recover from a broken collarbone suffered in a Week 1 loss at Green Bay.

The Texans will have to force some mistakes, and will have to make the Saints earn every patch of yard they get. They can’t give up big plays, and more so on offense they can’t turn the ball over.

Matt Schaub and Houston will try to use the run game with Ben Tate to control the clock, and that will also keep Brees and co. off the field. The Saints are a team that thrive on teams making mistakes, the Texans are a team that can give away games if they are not careful with the ball.

Phillips will come up with a good plan against Brees, but the Saints are suck a better team at home, it is unlikely that the Texans will have enough firepower to match the Saints high-powered orchestra on offense of Brees and company.

Look for a tight game that may not have as much scoring as one would think, but will still go the way of the Saints as they get to 2-1. New Orleans 24 Houston 20